- The Centre announced the Supreme Court that men and women are inducted into the Army's Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch through different Service Selection Boards
- The rationale given is that male officers are compulsorily attached to artillery units at the time of induction, getting them ready for combat roles
The Central Government has apprised the Supreme Court that men and women are inducted into the Indian Army's Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch in different Service Selection Boards (SSBs) because of different operational roles. Whereas male officers are subjected to compulsory attachments with artillery units and trained for combat situations, women officers are not enrolled in frontline combat positions.
This clarification was issued after a law suit by a woman officer challenging the use of different merit lists and SSBs for men and women candidates in the JAG department. The Supreme Court, hearing the matter before Justices Dipankar Datta and Manmohan, has reserved the verdict and asked the Centre to present its arguments.
In its reply, the Centre asserted that women officers in the Army are posted depending on operational readiness requirements. It is a policy decision not to post women officers in active combat capabilities or in units such as the Rashtriya Rifles or Assam Rifles, which are engaged in counter-insurgency and counter-terror operations.
Countering the point raised that officers in the JAG are deployed in non-war zone environments, the Centre made it clear that male JAG officers are meant to carry out combat work when called upon. Referring to the past examples of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka and the Kargil conflict, the government mentioned that legal officers have served in operational areas before.
Extra Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for the Centre, highlighted India's peculiar strategic location—surrounded by unfriendly neighbors—requiring superior levels of operational readiness at all times. She explained that unlike Western forces, the Indian Army has to be ready for full-fledged or limited war on both the northern and western fronts.
The Centre warned against judicial orders for gender parity without regard to the effect on military efficiency. It claimed that gender integration in the armed forces is a progressive and continuing process, open to review in light of changing operating requirements. Of particular interest, the men to women intake proportion in the JAG branch already stands changed from 70:30 to 50:50 from this year.
